On Tuesday the Aztecs unveiled plans to build a new 23,500-square foot basketball practice facility behind the Fowler Athletic Center, and that discussion once again sparked the question of whether there are plans to build an on-campus football stadium in the near future.

"We continue to explore possibilities to ensure our football team has the most appropriate place to play," said SDSU President Elliot Hirshman, who was at the press conference to announce the new basketball practice facility.

Athletic Director Jim Sterk said the discussion is ongoing, but added that in recent years, SDSU has focused on improving their current football facilities.

Sterk said the Aztecs have pumped about $4 million into the program over the last couple of years to increase coaches’ salaries, improve the locker rooms, and spruce up the recruiting lounge, the football office suite and the practice fields.

Upgrading the team’s facilities “continues to be a point of emphasis,” Sterk said. “The stadium issue is bit more complication because right now we lease (Qualcomm Stadium) from the city. But (an on-campus stadium) is a possibility in the future. We’re going to continue to monitor that.”

Hirshman added, “We’re part of a larger environment in San Diego so we want to work with partners to consider what the different stadium options are moving forward.”

One reporter present floated the idea of using Petco Park for football, but Sterk said that's not going to happen because the stadium's design precludes the possibility of fitting a football field in there.

The Aztecs are the only team in the Mountain West that plays in a pro football stadium. And with a capacity of 70,561, Qualcomm Stadium often looks empty with about 30,000 fans sprinkled throughout. Even the Chargers generally struggle to pack the place.

The average announced attendance this season for SDSU's five home games so far is about 33,237 per game. But that number is generally higher than turnstile attendance that records the number of people actually in the stands.

In comparison, San Jose State's Spartan Stadium has a capacity of 30,456, so even though the announced attendance for SDSU's 34-30 win over the Spartans was 17,832, the stadium didn't look as empty as Qualcomm can look at times. The Nevada game on a Friday night, for instance, drew 22,475.